A Constant Battle
by Sith Lord Darth Revan
Summary: A continuation of A Casualty of War.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Note: Sequel to A Casualty of War. I suggest you read that one first. If you are about to close the book on Revan and Bastila... let me just say they haven't seen the last of each other.

Prologue: Shattered

"That was low, Bastila."

Cringing, the Jedi allowed her tears to finally fall.

"I know, Carth. But... I could not face him and watch him leave again..."

The Republic admiral scowled.

"Don't make me lie for you again. I know the Masters think you should close your relationship with Revan if you are to be a member of the New Council... but hasn't he been through enough?"  
Frowning, Bastila sighed.

"It was the truth... from a certain point of view... He had been through enough though..."

She finished sadly. Mical, who had been silently watching the argument, following Revan's and Atris' disappearance, chose that moment to speak.

"It will never be enough for him. Revan was once noble and believed in a certain code of honor. If he is to atone for his sins, in his mind it will never be enough. He could save the galaxy again and again and it would still not make up for the countless lives he's destroyed."

Bastila closed her eyes, covering her face.

"He has no one now, Carth. We've betrayed him, how can we do this?"

Carth lowered his head, crossing his arms tightly over his armor.

"You know Canderous is probably going to kill us if he finds out Revan was here and we didn't tell him. If he knew how close he was to him on the Ravager... He'd never forgive himself."

Bastila shook her head.

"He never forgave himself for being wounded all those years ago and being left behind. All of us would have followed Revan but he only brought Malak. And now Malak is dead and the Sith are finally ready. If the vision the Masters had was true, Revan must fight them alone."

Mical frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion before it shot up in alarm.

"There is a bit of a problem with that. He took Master Atris. Master Atris fell to the Darkside... Oh Force what if- what if he takes her as his apprentice and trains her..."

The silent fourth member of the room finally spoke, her emerald cloak falling away from her fiery hair.

"He will not fall to the Darkside. I saw what happened to Ulic and I know Revan will not want to live in the Darkside again. But he will need its destructive power to fight this war. Master Juhani and Master Bindo have returned from Ossus and the funerals for Knight Fayne and Knight Ira. When Master Oss returns, we will assemble the Council and find the Exile and his followers. We need to gather out strength and quickly."

Nomi Sunrider shook her head.

"Or wait for Revan to weaken the enemy enough."

Bastila closed her eyes, trying to picture the man's face. Trying to feel him in their bond, but it had been nearly snuffed out my Nihilus' actions.

"Why does the Force want Revan to be alone?"

The doors to the room opened and a young woman dressed in scarlet robes with a black leather overlay and a gold-lined scarlet veil entered.

"Because he may become the thing he hates most. My Master's actions against Revan may have... altered his mental stability. Now that Revan has seen what Nihilus can do, he may consider using it against the Sith. If that happens, anyone who is around him could die. It is a decision he must make alone. One I am afraid I am responsible for."

"Oh yes, walk into a private meeting. Carth, why isn't that door locked?"

Vima Sunrider complained as she followed the Miralukan. Several other figures appeared behind her as well, all strong in the Force save three. Two droids and a rather threatening looking man in silver armor.

"You and I have something we need to talk about, Princess."

Canderous hissed, glaring through his mask at Bastila.

"There is nothing to discuss, Mandalorian. Revan is a danger to all of us. If he does chose to use Nihilus' technique, he could become that creature and we must wait and prepare. If he fails, we must be ready to fight. If he succeeds, we must- we must be ready to do what must be done."

Canderous lowered his head, his anger draining away.

"I know. We should be there, at his side. Not here, waiting while he is bearing the full weight of this war."

Nomi Sunrider frowned.

"Be that as it may, Revan will always bear the burden of his power alone. It was the way he was taught and the way he believes is the only way. Our... subterfuge will only buy us the time we need to prepare. The Jedi are not so lost as the Sith think and Revan has bought us the time we need to stand a chance..."

The room fell silent aside from the threatening stream of menace coming from HK-47, whom all in the room ignored.

"But at what price?"

Bastila finished, holding her face in her hands and weeping.

Blood. The taste was always did something to a sentient when they tasted it. Especially when it was their own. Lifting herself from the stone floor of the ancient Sith cavern on Korriban, Atris held the side of her battered face and groaned as she stood. Even if she had touched the Darkside, this place, this cave Revan insisted she explore was terrifying. If there weren't the beasts of Korriban lurking around every corner, there seemed to be hallucinations brought on by the Darkside. If she didn't know more about the nature of the Force, Atris would have thought herself mad.

Less than a mile away, Revan was searching for the body of his friend. The former Dark Lord of the Sith had been preparing himself for this moment, but was growing more and more frustrated. Where the Force was Malak? The question was answered when Revan came upon a funeral pyre and the burnt casing of Malak's saber. Ian must have given Malak a proper funeral.

Kneeling beside the pyre, Revan reached into the ashes and pulled the saber from its resting place. It had been nearly a year since he had seen Malak and they had begun gathering other Jedi. All they had to show for it was a fallen Jedi Master and a pile of ashes.

"I swear."

Revan began placing the saber back amongst the ashes as a tear fell from his eyes.

"I swear my friend, this will not have been for nothing."

Turning his attention to a nearby Tukata beast, Revan held his hand out, in a similar way Nihilus had done to him and began pulling the life-force from the creature until it finally collapsed with a cry of agony and lay still. Opening and closing his hand several times, Revan nodded, his eyes gleaming with anger and grief and determination and a small, almost non existent hope.

"Now I finally have a weapon."

Author's Note: You got me, Jedi Emeritus. The question always remained, what ever happened to Nomi Sunrider and Vima Sunrider. We know they have descendants because of Vima Da Boda from the Reborn Emperor series and the New Jedi Order so... Bastila did return to the Jedi and chose to follow its teachings. So from a certain point of view she was married to the Jedi Order... having to leave Revan behind... to do what needed to be done. Sort of a parallel of Revan's treatment of her...


	2. Chapter 1: Sands of Korriban

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: Sands of Korriban

Atris pulled herself wearily to her feet from where she collapsed. She had survived the trials of the cave and felt different now. She didn't know what had changed, but there was a purpose there. The things she saw within the cave, cruel parodies of her past actions opened her eyes. She could no longer go on the way she had. There had to be a different way and Revan, she was certain knew that way. Reaching through the Force, Atris could only feel a cold void. Shaking off the chill in her spine, the former Jedi Master began her search for Revan.

She found him, eventually, crying. It was strange. She had never seen a man cry. Never seen the dark side of war through she spoke of it often. Seeing something and experiencing it were two very different things. In her mind she knew what was wrong, but couldn't bring herself to mourn Malak's death as Revan did. They were like brothers, had known each other and been friends most of their lives and now Revan was grieving. The determined shell of the Knight he had been, the Sith Lord he had been was falling away. His confidence was broken.

"All for nothing. All for nothing."

He kept speaking through his sobs. Gently laying her hand on his shoulder, Atris did not speak. She couldn't deny it. She didn't even know what the Bloody Hell Revan was going on about. Revan started at the touch and looked up at Atris.

"We- We shouldn't linger here."

Remembering her experiences in the cave, how it showed her her steady fall into Darkness and her finally giving in to that revelation on Telos, the Echani agreed wholeheartedly.

Rising from where he had dropped to his knees, Revan brushed the sleeve of his cloak across his face and stared down at Malak's ashes.

"I'm sorry I started you on this path. I'm sorry you trusted me and followed me. I'm sorry it was you who died and now I..."

They didn't leave. Revan broke down again, weeping as he drew a handful of ashes in his hand and rubbed it into his face, trying to find some comfort in his lost friend.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Sighing mentally, Atris looked down at her once white robes, now covered in patches of blood and dirt and grime. She thought of Yusanis and Arren Kae and Brianna and how she had failed them all. She thought of her murder of her Handmaidens and she joined Revan in his moment of despair.  
Night fell before either came out of their despair. Revan, breathing heavily pulled his hands from his face, seeing the beast he had drained hours before. Maybe this was what the Jedi cautioned him against when he sought to take his war to the Mandalorians. Maybe they never saw the Sith or the Vong or all the nightmares the fallen Jedi had unleashed. Maybe they had only seen him, broken and despairing and fallen in darkness. It would have been enough to grant them pause in their decision to go to war.

Shaking his head against his thoughts, Revan sniffed and rubbed his eyes, staring up into the rising temples of the Ancient Sith Lords. It wasn't supposed to be like this, the Jedi lost and broken. His Sith Empire weak and scattered. Both Orders failing. They were supposed to be stronger, ready for any threat the universe would throw at them.

"Atris."

Revan whispered, brushing the sand and ash from his eyes. The Jedi Master was leaning against a fallen stone column with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head buried. She looked almost like a scared child. A sleeping, scared child, Revan noted.

Sighing, Revan gave one last, long look at Malak's ashes before whispering.

"Farewell my brother."

Working his way over to Atris, Revan looked down on the fallen Jedi Master with narrowed eyes. Reaching through the bond he had built, Revan sensed only turmoil. Still weak, the bond did not allow Revan the clarity that Bastila's bond had.

The thought of Bastila brought an emotion up within Revan that he could not identify. Perhaps it was a mixture of several powerful emotions, he could not say. What he could say was it was unpleasant and filled him with a sense of loss. Perhaps not as cutting as Malak's death and seeing all his plans for the galaxy crumble to sand and ash, but enough to trouble his mind.

He could barely sense anything when he had been on Citadel. His imprisonment by Nihilus had left him more drained than he wanted to let on. He felt like every sap of marrow in his bones had been drained, leaving him hollow. That the blood in his body had all rushed to his head, leaving his heart straining in his chest. He felt like his muscles had turned to useless flab and that his mind was not completely his own.

Then the news of Bastila and Malak came.

"What is it about this world that brings the worst out of me?"

Revan asked the darkness of Korriban's night. Only the distant sounds of the world's beasts and the howling of the wind between the towering mausoleums answered him.

"I'm stronger than this."

Revan shouted into the night, a distant Tukata answering him with a howl of its own.

"You are lost, you just haven't admitted it."

Atris' cultured voice cut through the ambient sound of Korriban's backdrop. Revan started, surprised that his monologue had been overheard. A small, sad smile played on Atris' lips.

"You must have truly been a Sith Lord if you waste your time speaking of your great plans for the galaxy and doing nothing about it."

A chuckle escaped Revan as a surprised expression crossed his drawn features.

"I suppose I should tone down the monologue. Lets go kill something, Atris. It'll make us feel better."

Atris returned a laugh awkwardly.

"And what makes you think that, Sith Lord?"

Atris asked, her laughter gaining a hysterical edge. Revan's smile vanished, seriousness crossing the hard angles of his face.

"It works for my enemies, why not me?"

Atris' laughter died as she saw the sneer curl on Revan's lips.

"Are you saying the Jedi would feel that way or that they were never your enemy?"

Turning his eyes to the fallen Jedi Master, Revan gave the Echani a hard stare until she looked away.

"The Jedi were once my tool. As were my Sith and even the Mandalorians and the very Republic. I used them all to gain power and resources and I held the fate of worlds in my hand. All for nothing. The True Sith's final revenge is nigh, the Jedi and Sith Orders scattered, destroyed and lost. The Mandalorians weakened too greatly to stand against them. The Krath of Empress Teta are divided since the death of Aleema at Exar Kun's hands. The Corellian worlds are being plagued by pirates. The Hutts, loathe as I am to admit it are weak from their in-fighting and their conflicts with the Exchange in recent years. The Iridonian worlds were too ravaged by the Mandalorians to be of any use, even a decade later... The Echani-"

Revan paused, glancing at Atris. Seeing her intrigued look, Revan assumed she had some sort of morbid fascination with the Darkside. A true scholar, she would have put the Krath to shame.

"The Echani are still divided, but still strong. Since I- Since I murdered Yusanis they have broken apart and are individually a threat to no one. I was hoping a descendant of Yusanis would be able to unite them once more for the coming war, but-"

Revan cut off his train of through, remembering some things were better kept quite. Remembering her murder of the handmaidens, Atris closed her eyes. It felt obscene to her to feel guilty of killing she had done so easily.

"Brianna lives."

Atris spoke hoarsely, her voice cracking.

"She lives."

She repeated, beginning to withdraw into herself. Seeing he was losing her attention, Revan snapped his finger.

"Brilliant!"

The former Jedi exclaimed loudly, too loudly.

"Pardon?"

Atris asked, her eyes still red and slightly puffy.

"She is strong now, yes?"

Confused, and feeling very much like the bottom of a Hutt's hoversled, Atris nodded numbly.

"Oh yes, very much like her mother."

A wince. Atris wondered what kind of remorse Revan would feel for Arren Kae.

"She will return to her own people and finish what Yusanis began. I know she will."

Revan turned to Atris. In his eyes, Atris saw something gleam. Intelligence and cunning. Revan was not meant to be as broken as he was. He was meant for greatness, for power. The Jedi could only offer that, but looking in his eyes, Atris could see his destiny laid out before him. The Force was not finished with Revan. Regardless of his crimes, Revan was a servant of the Force and he was following his instincts.

"What do you see?"

Atris asked quietly, feeling foolish for never seeing it before. The Force was channeling itself through Revan. Channeling enough power to overcome the Darkside and the repression of his emotions by the Jedi's training. His passion was his strength and the balance he held over the Force was enough for him to catch a clear glimpse into the future.  
A smile crossed Revan's features. A clarity he hadn't felt since he had held Bastila last, since he has momentarily been one with the Force coming to him as the Force guided him. He was its servant, its tool. He was the Heart of the Force and its hand in what was to come. He had a purpose once more.

"We're going to win this war, Atris."

Revan spoke with a confidence he had not had since first calling himself Darth Revan. A confidence that slowly, worked its way through the newly formed bond with Atris and was passed on to her. Staring into Atris' eyes, Revan laughed, elated.

"We are going to end the Sith, Atris. End them all."

His words troubled Atris. The man was inspiring, she could feel the Force bending to his will and unconsciously influencing her to listen to him. A natural leader, Revan always was but what he had said.

"We are making a mistake, Revan."

Atris replied. Revan's eyes widened in surprise as his brows shot up.

"A mistake? We, you and I are going to end the Sith, Atris."

There it was again. The cold chill that ran up her spine and through her brain as Revan spoke.

"Like you ended the Telosians?"

Atris asked. Revan's expression closed off as he stared at the Jedi Master, first in annoyance but then, in comprehension and a growing confusion.

"Genocide is never the answer, Revan."

Atris spoke firmly, with a confidence born of years of the Jedi's teachings. The former Dark Lord's eyes fell to the ashes of Malak and then passed to the nearby Tukata he had drained of its life-force with Nihilus' technique. Nihilus had been nothing more than an addict, uncaring of what he destroyed as long as his hunger was sated and he had his fix.  
"You're right."

Revan returned his eyes to Atris'.  
"You're right."

Revan repeated, with certainty in his voice.

"Whatever you saw, Revan. Remember, the future is always in motion. I may only be a few years your elder, but I was a Master of the Council. A Librarian. Whatever you saw may not come to pass or may be a hallucination brought on by this world. The Force had been poisoned since the Great Hyperspace war and the future is no longer clear to us. We cannot rely totally on visions granted to us by the Force. It could even be the Sith trying to influence you. Be mindful, Revan."

Atris took Revan's hand, hoping she had reached him. Staring down at the pale hand on his own, Revan withdrew into himself; spending the rest of the night pondering his visions and their results. It had been part of the reason he had been so confident in himself. Now, he was not so sure. It had been so long since he had seen the future, so long since the Force had confided its grand design to him.  
"Perhaps it has always been the Sith. Perhaps they have been feeding me these visions, using me as their tool to destroy the Republic."

Revan spoke in a grim tone. Atris took in a deep steadying breath. Whatever Revan was experiencing was going through the bond and it did not feel serene in the slightest.

"But we can't commit genocide against them..."

Revan's face scrunched up in deep thought.

"But you know, in there it may come to that..."

Atris added knowingly, feeling what she recognized as shame reading through the bond.

"If it comes to that, Atris. I have something I must ask of you. If it is solely by my hand and I begin to feel..."

Trying to remember what Nihilus felt like through the Force, Revan closed his eyes in self-disgust.

"If I begin to feel endless, like an abyss. Kill me, Atris. You're the only one who is here now."

Atris' face was the picture of horrified surprise. Revan knew he could end the Sith with Nihilus' power, but the very real possibility remained that he would become like Nihilus. He could never let that happen.

"Promise me, Atris."

Revan stared into Atris' eyes, his hand grasping hers tightly.

"I- I can't promise you that I will... but if- if I become a danger, I ask you the same."

They had been friends, once upon a time. Long before the war and the responsibilities of adulthood fell upon them. It was the least they could do for one another. Both former Jedi agreed and passed the late night and early morning dawn of Korriban, quietly reminiscing of their past.

"At times, I hate the Force. I wonder what it would be like if there was no Force. No Jedi or Sith. I wonder if the galaxy would be better off..."

Atris turned slowly to Revan, an uncertain look on her face.

"Thankfully that is a question that will never be answered. There will always be the Force, Revan."

Something his master had told him long ago, about the Sith and their weapons. Weapons that had the power to destroy stars. Powers that could annihilate all life on an entire planet. Something hidden away, forgotten. Revan closed his eyes, cutting off the Force's influence from his mind as he dug deeper within his foggy memory.

"The world, where Ulic Qel-Droma fell, died. What was its name?"

Atris was silent a moment as she tried to recall the world.

"The ice world of Rhen Var. A weak atmosphere due to a natural disaster suffered millions of years ago it is almost as bad as Hoth from what I can remember of it... Why do you ask?"

Atris asked, truly baffled by the sudden change in the discussion.

"Just an old legend... What do you say to a winter retreat?"

The Echani former Jedi scoffed.

"You are speaking to a woman who has spent the better half of a decade buried in Telos' ice cap."

Grinning, Revan stood, offering Atris his hand. The Echani glared at the offered hand but took it anyways.

"The Sith won't attack the Republic until it collapses, or they are sure of victory. Time is short, but oh so precious. Perhaps an old Mandalorian riddle can be the answer, perhaps not. We have no army to mobilize, no allies who will support us. Were we to confront the Republic Senate, we would either be ignored or executed, neither is an option I want to explore at the moment and... lets face it, Atris. The Sith aren't going to be stopped by two former Jedi. I was barely qualified as a Knight when I left the Order and frankly..."

Revan eyed Atris, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Anyone who would pine over Ian Kenobi and think he didn't notice, would have to be a poor excuse for a Councillor."

Seeing Atris flush and show a reaction other than misery and deep thought was reassuring to Revan. It was time to get over the past and look to the future. However bleak and likely filled with pain and death that future would be, at least it was something he could change.

"I will not be insulted by a man who went into Master Vrook's lectures for two years expecting to be enlightened."

Revan scowled.

"I liked the man when I first joined the Order, alright. Can't I say I was just young and foolish."

Atris felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It almost reminded her of her days as an apprentice. When she, Revan, Malak and Ian would sit around after lectures, teasing one another and relaxing. Something that she had thought had been lost on all of them when they had gone away to fight the Mandalorians and had never returned.

Revan was following a similar trail of thoughts, remembering Malak and how they would trade meaningless banter in the most insane moments. Like when they were pinned down by a flight of Mandalorian fighters in the Venjagga system and had taken refuge in the system's asteroid belt. The two Jedi exiles had began arguing about whom was the better pilot and had nearly been turned into a fine stream of dust by a gigantic asteroid.

Needless to say, Malak was the better pilot. Reckless, head-on tactics seemed to work well in a dogfight and Malak's piloting abilities had saved their lives and kept them alive long enough for the Republic's reinforcements to arrive and obliterate the Mandalores.

The thought of Malak was painful, but Revan allowed himself a small respite from his grief. Malak would punch him in the face if he saw him moping around.

"Lets get the Hell off this rock and get something accomplished. What do you say?"

Revan asked, gallantly offering his hand to Atris in a manner that dripped with teasing. Frowning, Atris lowered her head.

"Yes, we should not linger here."

Atris answered, the reality of what was going on setting in. The game over, Revan and Atris made their way to the transport Revan had stolen from Citadel and programmed a course for Rhen Var. Neither of the occupants had noticed the small tracking device attached to the hull of their ship, not did they sense the long figure who watched their interaction and departure with interest.

Author's Notes: Notice in the Epilogue for CoW Palpatine was being cryptic and in many ways channeling his inner Kreia. Also at the end he added to himself that if Vader only knew the truth, perhaps things would be different. Try to keep in mind I am not aiming for a Darkside ending but in the Star Wars universe the Sith ruled the galaxy for a thousand years, that following a two thousand year war that was set in motion by Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma and pretty much reached its climax with Revan and Malak falling to the Darkside. A mindwipe and programming someone with a new identity does not constitute redemption. We know Revan regains his memories, we are told so in KOTOR II and we also know he had a reason for falling in the first place. What I've been doing in the last part of CoW with the addition of the True Sith is simply that Revan's plans are falling apart. When this happens, you tend to lose confidence in what you had planned and start something I like to call damage control. (Trying to organize what remained of the jedi to stand against the Sith. Using the enemy's weapons, Darth Nihilus' Thought bomb, etc.)

A brief history lesson for the SW universe. The Sith have been around since about the time the Rakatans had their Infinite Empire. Outcast Jedi eventually joined the Sith on Korriban and mixed with the species, eventually becoming the race we know from the Dark Horse comic series: The Golden Age of the Sith. These Sith were the ones to fight the Jedi in the Great Hyperspace war and were eventually defeated an hunted down by the Jedi and Republic. The Sith homeworld of Ziost and their graveworld of Korriban were wiped out of Sith life. Lets just say the Republic and Jedi went Genocide on the Sith and in my honest opinion that doesn't reflect well on them.

The Sith survived and retreated. Being lost without the strong leaders from their pre-war empire the Sith likely (We don't really know yet) fell behind a new leader and waited and watched as the Republic and Jedi grew stronger. Too strong for them to challenge. I think that patience is one of the more dangerous aspects one can have in an enemy because they can be subtle. (Like Palpatine) If these Sith were patient, manipulating for a thousand years the Republic and Jedi. (Freedon Nadd.)

We know that Marka Ragnos' spirit appeared to Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun as they dueled for supremacy of the Sith. We know that the spirit of Ajunta Pal knew Revan when you play that part in KOTOR I and we know that when the Sith instigated the rule of two, since Lord Kaan messed up royally with the Thought Bomb in the Battle of Ruusan that the Sith were nearly wiped out.

In Episode II, Palpatine says he won't let the Republic which has stood for a thousand years be ripped apart and they also say there has never been a full scale war since that Republic has been in power. That my friends and inquiring young minds tells us that the Republic does fall within three thousand years of KOTOR and is rebuilt. We also know from the dialogue in Episode III that the Sith had once ruled the galaxy. We know Exar Kun and Revan came damned close, but the Sith did quite effectively destroy the Republic and it wasn't the True Sith. It was Revan's Sith Order.

This is all just a bunch of crap I have flying through my head when I try to write this story. I hope it gives some of my readers better insight into what I am trying to do. Revan can have a happy ending, but the galaxy won't. This is set on a galactic battlefield. It will not be pretty.


	3. Chapter 2: The Frozen Wastes of Rhen Var

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: The Frozen Wastes of Rhen Var.

"Have you gone completely mad or is there a reason we are here?"

Atris complained as she drew her white cloak tightly around her. Revan chuckled, doing the same with his black. They were a real pair. Atris clad in white robes with light hair and eyes and him, almost the complete opposite. Dark hair and eyes, and obsidian robes. Yes, life was unbearably funny at times.

"I'm thinking we end the universe."

Atris cocked a brow, not entirely certain if Revan was joking.

"Come again?"

Atris asked warily. Revan sighed.

"Rhen Var was once the focal point of an ancient race of aliens that possessed a vast knowledge that goes beyond anything the Infinite Empire or the Sith or the Jedi have in any of their archives. So much has been lost to us over the millennium that with each new generation a little more is lost. With each war we forget the true nature of the Force in favor of our training."

Intrigued by the buried civilization, Atris answered.

"And what is the true nature of the Force?"

The former Dark Lord of the Sith turned and stared into his companion's eyes.

"Balance."

Atris frowned.

"Balance?"

Seeing that his companion was not following him, Revan continued.

"The nature of the Force is to create balance. For every Jedi that walked the path of the Lightside, there was a Sith practicing the Dark arts. Twenty-one thousand years ago the Legions of Lettow brought about the First Great Schism. It failed in the end with the deaths of General Xendor and Arden Lyn. Even thought this was stopped, throughout the millennium, more Jedi left the order, pursuing the paths of passion. Most notable beyond Exar's war and Freedon's campaigns on Onderon and Dxun is the Hundred-Year Darkness. Being a librarian I am certain you know the significance of that war."

Atris nodded grimly. A hundred years of constant war where Jedi turned on one another.

"Three thousand years ago that became the Second Great Schism of the Order. Even now these Schisms are only legend, but they did happen. After the Battle of Corbos, a hundred years after the split in the Order, the Dark Jedi were banished from the Republic and happened upon the Ancient Sith Empire. It was here that they found the Sith people and through those thousands of years of interbreeding became a new people. With the technological advantages the Outcast Jedi brought to the Sith, and their powers of the Force they introduced, they became as gods to the Sith people."

This was all common knowledge to the Jedi Council, but how Revan found out so much about this Atris did not know.

"The Sith are the descendants of Outcast Jedi, remember that. They are, in essence our children..."

Revan trailed off, a distant look in his face as the wind seemed to blow the chilled air in a violent roar around the two former Jedi.

"Do you know the legend of the Chosen One?"

Revan asked. Atris nodded, answering.

"All Jedi know that tale. The Whill are beings that have ascended and become one with the Force. Their shamans are believed to have the strongest connection to the Unifying Force, giving them a direct line to the future. They are the ones from which the prophesy arose. I believe the prophesy goes along the lines of; _"And in the time of greatest despair there shall come a savior and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns..."_ The Chosen One is said to be a being that is conceived within the Force that would be more powerful than any Jedi of the time. He will restore Balance to the Force and repair the Schism that had poisoned our Order. He will unite the Living and Unifying Force and bring about an era of peace."

Revan chuckled as Atris stared off at something only she could see.

"Very good, one minor detail is missing, however. A less commonly known face is that I have died and was momentarily connected to the Force. There I saw a road that extended far into the future. I saw pain and suffering and passion and love and all the drama that is life. I saw for a moment the face of the Chosen One..."

Revan trailed off, his voice holding reverence.

"I also saw the truth. The Sith have a legend as well of a messiah. The Sithari..."

Atris stared directly into Revan's eyes, a curious look on her face.

"I knew only that you were close to death on the Star Forge, not that you had died."

Atris' curious look turned to suspicious quickly.

"Why did neither you, Malak or Padawan Shan tell us of this?"

Revan stared into Atris' eyes, silence answering her.

"We should have seen it."

Atris gasped, noticing the change in Revan's aura.

"Are you-"

Revan shook his head.

"I am not the Jedi's Chosen One. I may be something else, however."

Atris frowned.

"You believe that you are the Sithari?"

Revan nodded.

"The Sithari is said to be a perfect being that would bring balance to the Force. You and I both know balance can always be disrupted. It is said that the Sithari will be the salvation of the Sith Order. The Sith are no longer a people, but an ideal. Exar Kun showed us this and I- I in all my foolishness may have brought this about. Even now thousands of former Jedi and Sith are in hiding. The Order will return in time, if it hasn't already. They will work in secrecy and build their strength, changing their ideals to suit the changing times. The Sith Malak and I began on Malachor V will do the same. Jedi and Sith are not so different, Atris. Remember that at one time we were all one. We all can trace our roots back to the Priests of Tython..."

Revan's face shifted to confusion for a moment.

"Sometimes I doubt my actions, but I know. It is not about balance, its about power. That is all the Sith will respect and all they will bow to. The Patron is the Sith's guardian and I suppose you and I are all that is left of the Jedi. Either way, if we win or lose, live or die, Atris. The Sith will go on and the Jedi will go on. You can cripple an enemy and send them away, but there will always be others to fight, and always, the enemy will remember and will return to exact vengeance. The Jedi that fled to Ziost Three thousand years ago and returned in the Great Hyperspace War a thousand year ago..."

Something seemed to fall into place in Revan's mind as he dwelled for the first time since Bastila and Malak had saved him on what he was shown. It wasn't a vision, some beautiful and terrible look at the afterlife or becoming one with the Force. It was wisdom being imparted to him.

"The Chosen One and the Sithari are one and the same... They both bring Balance... and a child conceived by the Force would be in all likelihood perfect. Oh Force, Atris they are one and the same. The salvation of the Jedi is the salvation of the Sith. Force, why did I not see it before!"

Revan cursed in several languages, pacing angrily through the snow. Atris stared at the former Jedi in confusion. What he had said had all entered her mind, but she couldn't quite follow his line of thought.

"How could the one who will save the Jedi also save the Sith, Revan?"

Atris asked uncertainly. Revan stopped and turned to Atris.

"Because the Jedi and Sith are one and the same, Atris. You cannot kill the Jedi without killing the Sith. The Sith merely believe in another set of ideals, but they are our children, Atris. All Sith were once Jedi. Kreia always told me that but I never understood... not until now. Force!"

Going over their conversation, the truth of the matter became clear to Atris. Revan had been plagued with visions his entire life. He had spent so much time seeing some threat beyond the borders of the Republic. He never saw that the true battle between Light and Darkness, between balance was within himself. Many, oh so many of the Jedi Council did not see that either. Not until the end.

"Are you saying that if one powerful enough takes control of the Sith... they could be converted."

Revan stopped his pacing and muttering and snapped his eyes to Atris.

"What I am saying is that the only solution to ending the threat would be to end the Force. The Sith people will follow whoever is powerful. Their lines will weaken and eventually fall and they will be assimilated into the rest of the galaxy. Balance will restore itself. The Sithari, the Chosen One, whatever you wish to call him will show the next generation this truth. This war cannot be won in our lifetimes, it cannot be beaten with weapons. This war exists in the hearts and minds of all those who feel the Force. I can think of only one man who has touched both the Light and Dark of the Force and turned away from both. Ian Kenobi."

Atris stared at Revan, a pained look crossing her face.

"The Council believed he would be the Death of the Force... they were terrified of him. Do you think he has that power?"

Revan's eyes traveled to his hand. He could hear the whispers of the Darkside, begging him to give in and the clarity of the Light, exposing it for what it truly was.

"There is no weapon we can find that will end this war. It will go on forever. The Chosen One will only come about when there is so little power in the galaxy that he will be needed. The Chosen One will restore the Force to its former glory. The Force will grow strong and clear once more, but it will not happen within our lifetimes. Kenobi may have a chance to end the Sith. But he would be ending the Jedi. You were right, I cannot kill the Sith people."

Atris tried to make eye contact with Revan, but he turned away.

"Only a Lord of the Sith can control the Sith people... Only a Lord of the Sith can wield the might of the Sith... I have to kill the Patron... I have to become the Lord of the Sith people and teach them there is another way. Teach them before they are the end of us all. Teach them before any more damage is done."

Atris shook her head.

"This is madness, Revan."

Revan nodded grimly.

"Yes, but it does make sense. Only the Lord of the Sith can end the threat. Only the Lord of the Sith can show them that the Darkness is not the answer. With so few of our Jedi brethren, perhaps the Force can be at peace with itself if the Sith people can learn to use both the Light and Dark. It is not about the Unifying Force or the Living Force as the Jedi believe. It is about being at peace with the light and the dark. The harness the control of the Jedi with the power of passion. It is always, always about power and right now, the Sith Lord has the power."

Revan shook his head, laughing at the insanity of it all.

"The Sith people only respect power. We have to show them power can be gained beyond the Darkside."

Atris lowered her head, staring at the snow-covered ground.

"Its cold, Revan. Lets find a place to camp for the night and discuss this further. If you intend to become the Lord of the Sith again, someone has to be there to watch your back."

For the first time in four years, Revan's block on his bond with Bastila Shan dropped. For the first time since he had sworn an oath to become a Jedi Knight, the first time in his life, he knew what he had to do. He knew it with such certainty that the Force bent so easily to his will. He knew the Force was with him. He knew he could end the tyranny of the Sith and right the wrongs brought on by the Great Schisms. He may not bring balance to the Force, but he would shine a light of truth on the Jedi and Sith's history and he would pray to the Force and all of the Gods of the galaxy that they would listen to him.

Light-years away, Bastila Shan felt Revan's sudden presence and started, thinking he was nearby. Only then, did she hear the call of the Force, telling her what she had to do. It went against the teachings of the Jedi, to whom she had sworn her life. It went against the beliefs of the Republic to which she had vowed to protect, but it did not go against the will of her heart. Revan for the first time in a decade knew what he wanted. The bond open, she felt his mind touch hers and felt the peace of their bond. She also felt the presence of another within that bond and knew if she did not act quickly, she would lose Revan forever.

Her heart she could deny by logic, but Bastila felt the clarity of the Force through the bond she shared with Revan. She chose then, to go against the oath she had taken as a member of the Jedi Council and sought out the leader of the Council, Nomi Sunrider.

"Master Sunrider."

Bastila bowed as the fire-haired Master turned to her.

"Yes, Master Shan?"

The Jedi Councillor asked her companion. Bastila lowered her head, her doubts rising. She quickly crushed them. The Force was with Revan, she knew that. She also knew she wanted to be a part of that and that the Force was not against her being with Revan. If Jedi were servants of the Force, they should follow its guidance. Shouldn't they?

"I must respectfully decline the invitation of the Council and resign my commission as Jedi Councillor and Jedi Master... Revan- The Force is guiding me to seek Revan out and I cannot deny it."

Nomi raised a brow.

"The Force, or your heart, Bastila?"

Bastila closed her eyes, resolving herself to her fate.

"I should be there with him. If Revan is a danger to those around him... I should be by his side to guide him. Yes, my heart is telling me to find him. I know for certain the Force is not warning me against him. Whatever decision he was going to make that made him so dangerous has been made. He is resolved to follow through and I- I will stand behind him and share his fate."

Nomi stared into Bastila's eyes, trying to see into her mind.

"The bond had reopened."

Bastila nodded, trying to be as respectful as possible, though all she wanted to do was run to the nearest hangar and follow Revan's presence.

"When you see him..."

Nomi began, breaking eye contact with Bastila as she turned and lifted a picture of a young man with brown hair and eyes.

"Tell him the truth."

Bastila bowed, leaving the room and stopping briefly by her quarters before leaving in a long-range Jedi fighter. Nomi lifted her eyes from the picture of Ulic Qel-Droma and hoped that fate would be kinder to Bastila. She had loved and lost twice. First her husband Andur and then Ulic. The Jedi should never have changed the Code to ban relationships between Jedi. While they had always frowned upon emotional attachments, they had only banned them amongst the Order since Exar Kun's war. A decision based in fear and one, she feared would lead to more sorrow than it would stop.

Author's Notes: God that was fun to write.


	4. Chapter 3: Chosen

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3: Chosen

"You have the power to end this."

Revan and Atris both turned to the voice speaking to them from the entrance of the ancient ruin they had taken refuge from the harsh Rhen Var elements. Revan's face held no expression as his eyes scanned the figure before him.

"Its been a while. I hear you've been busy."

The figure that had been stalking the two former Jedi from Korriban shook its head.

"You forget. I know you, probably better than anyone now that Malak is dead."

From the inside of his cloak, Revan removed a small flask of Tarisian ale. A habit he had begun developing in recent years and held it up.

"To absent friends."

The former Dark Lord took a large swallow before handing it to the newcomer. Ian Kenobi accepted the drink and offered it to Atris, who reluctantly took a drink as well.

"What was it like?"

Revan asked, referring to being cut off from the Force. It had been frightening when he had experienced it on Mandalore's ship and later on Nihilus' but Ian's had been permanent. or at least it was supposed to be. The Exiled Jedi Knight seated himself on a frozen stone, eyeing the other two beings in the ruined structure. Ian made eye contact with Atris before speaking.

"Painful, lonely and I suppose in the end enlightening."

The Exile brushed the snow from his cloak and looked between his gathered audience.

"Its hard to describe. I suppose it is like being blinded and then thrown into the Dune Sea. Alone."

Revan turned his eyes to Atris, seeing her flinch at the words before lowering his own head. The Jedi had turned Ian away, yes but so had he.

"It is conflict that strengthens us."

Revan muttered his old Master's saying, drawing a glare from Ian.

"I was stuck on a ship for months listening to that mad-woman's rhetoric. How did you not fall to the Darkside sooner, Revan?"

Revan looked up, his eyes sparking a warning.

"Careful, Ian. I know it was you who struck her down."

Atris slowly pulled herself out of her own self-loathing as she noticed the tension that suddenly seemed to appear in the room. Kreia had been Revan's first Master, his surrogate mother and Ian had killed her.

"Ian, Revan..."

Atris tried to interject, seeing the two former Jedi stand. Revan tossed his flask aside, throwing off his cloak.

"She was right Ian. Everything she said was right and you know it. She knew what had to be done, what the true threat was and she sacrificed her students and her own life for what needed to be done. _She_ had the power to end the Sith."

Pain and betrayal. A decade of it burning in Ian. Loss and despair, growing in Revan for nearly as long.

"You're as mad as she was. She said you were a failure you know. The Jedi saw all of her students as failures."

Ian removed his lightsaber, ignoring Atris.

"I spared the Jedi for what they did to me because they had thought they did it for my own good. Malak I would have spared because he followed you but you, Revan. What happened to all of that power? What happened to that fire and that passion that led you to overcome your own people? Or did you just want to become a mass murderer like the rest of them?"

A fist shot out and knocked the older man to the ground. Revan removed his lightsaber, his face drawn with weariness, but growing in anger.

"What is it going to be, Revan?"

Ian asked, discarding his own cloak and wiping the blood from his mouth. Revan's hand tightened on his hilt, his leather gloves letting out a low creak."Are you going to give in? Like you always did? Let it in? Let it burn entire worlds? Give it so much control you become the thing you hate? Or is that what you always wanted? To become what you fought. A little too enlightened for a Mandalore."

"Stop it, now!"

Atris shouted, standing between the two. Ian turned to the Echani.  
"And what about you? Are you here with him because you want to learn the true extend of the Darkside? Seek its master and you hold its power? Did murder suit you a little too well?"

Atris looked almost as if she had been slapped and moved back, leaning against the frozen wall of the ancient library.

"Don't kill him, Revan."

She spoke softly. Revan made no response as he stared into Ian's eyes, his own narrowing.

"Use it."

Ian spat, seeing the anger building around Revan in a bright crimson wave. It was better than the gray that had filled him when he had first seen him. Gray from grief and despair. Revan's strength had always been his passion and his confidence. It was lacking now.

"We were brothers once. I suppose that makes this all the more meaningful."

Revan activated his blade, raising it in a perfect Ataru stance. Ian's brow rose in surprise. Revan often favored Nimian. A form he had studied extensively since regaining his hold of the Force. Pulling the other blade from his belt, Ian ignited his twin silver blades and tilted his head, signaling for Revan to begin.

"What was it you did to make Malak betray you? He would have followed you anywhere..."

That did it. Revan charged, his aura filled with anger. Ian backed away, fully needing both of his blades to defend against Revan's fast movements. Revan had gotten better. Much better and his power had been awakened in his anger, nearly suffocating the Exile in its magnitude. As Kreia had said, Revan was power and looking into his eyes at that moment, Ian saw his own death. Revan wasn't going to stop until he was dead. It may have been some sick parody of Revan and Malak's first battle in which Revan had claimed his friend's jaw. Something Ian could scarcely believe until that moment.

Using the technique that seemed to be unique only to him, Ian latched on to Revan's aura, channeling the former Dark Lord's power into himself. It was painful, which surprised the Exile. Revan's power seemed almost endless as it continued to build. Growing with each strike of his blade. Malak had been the weakest of the three but the most skilled with a saber. Revan had been the most powerful and could easily match Malak's skill with his speed. Ian had been the most balanced of the three, power and skill making his strikes more calculated. Revan was a random fighter, his form shifting and changing as the Force probed Ian's defenses. Ian quickly realized the Force was with Revan in this fight and brought his two sabers up quickly, crossing them over his head and locking with Revan's blade.

Preparing himself for the kick he knew Revan would throw to break the lock, Ian was surprised to see Revan pivot to the side and snap his saber , breaking Ian's crossed blades apart and driving the crimson blade towards his right hand. A mere inch separated the molten metal if what had been one of the Exile's sabers and Revan's blade. Quickly, Ian remembered Revan using the move to break one of Kavar's locks in a mock-duel the two had fought years ago. The counter Revan had used then seemed to suddenly come to the Exile as his eyes widened and he used the Force to throw himself back. Revan's blade passed through where his neck had been an instant before. and the former Dark Lord continued his advance, his power only growing.

Ian could feel the strain on his body as he channeled more and more of Revan's energy into himself. Raising his hand he sent the excess power outward, quickly throwing his saber downward as Revan moved through the energy field unencumbered and sent a thrust for his chest. This was getting out of hand. Atris was holding her own saber in her hand, looking at the two with a lost expression. Ian had only wanted to goad Revan, to see if his friend was still the man he had been, to see if Revan still had the power that seemed to define him. He did.

It must have been a bad day if Visas was able to capture Revan and Nihilus was able to imprison him. Nihilus' power was in his hunger, he was not much of a threat as a swordsman or a combatant. Sion's words had worried him. If Sion had been more powerful than Revan and he had barely defeated the broken Sith Lord, He worried about what he was becoming, if he had become like Nihilus. Apparently Sion had fought Revan on Nihilus' ship on a bad day as well. Revan was fully committed to the fight and it seemed, nothing would stop him.

Quickly shifting into the defensive Soresu stance. Ian moved as quickly as he could to deflect Revan's blows but dread began growing with him as he realized, Revan was not getting tired. He was getting even more powerful as the fight progressed. This was going to be a very, very long fight.

Or a short one. Ian felt Revan's saber sear his thigh and cried out as he fell to the floor. Lightsaber wounds were unique. It was likely you wouldn't be able to fight back, even with a minor wound. All lightsaber wounds were cuts and burns and hurt like hell. Ian tried to move his leg, but the muscles had been destroyed by Revan's blade. Falling on his back, the Exiled looked up, trying to raise his saber to defend but seeing only a golden beam of light. For a moment, he thought he was dead, but the pain returned and he looked up to see Revan's blade crossed with another.

"This must stop at once."

A cultured voice demanded. Ian looked up to see Bastila Shan, one end of her saberstaff blocking Revan's blow and most surprising Revan's face. It was no longer filled with loathing and hate, but with shock and what he could scarcely believe was fear. Revan was afraid of Bastila?

"Revan, I know you are upset. I know you feel alone and that the galaxy is falling apart and there is nothing you can do about it. I know because I was there too, remember? When we were searching for the Star Forge. Does any of what we've been through mean anything to you?"

Revan dropped his weapon backing away.

"I-"

"No. There is no excuse."

Bastila snapped. The resolve on her face cracked a moment when she realized what Revan might have been thinking. He thought she was married. He probably thought she was married to the man she was defending and that they had come to kill him. He didn't realize she had made Carth lie. He didn't realize she had made and broken her commitment to the Jedi Council for him.  
"Revan, you-"

"I can't do this anymore."

Revan muttered, his hands covering his face. Either to hide his tears or his shame, no one knew. Revan pulled his hands away, staring into Bastila's eyes. The galaxy could burn so long as he could look into her eyes and see love. It was still there and it hurt to know she wouldn't, couldn't be his.

"Revan, wait."

Ian watched the two, a confused expression on his face. He knew they had been friends, but the way they were talking made it sound as if they had been...

"Oh..."

Ian's voice seemed to break the spell Revan had fallen under. The former Dark Lord looked at his friend, his eyes widening almost comically.

"There are some questions that need answering."

Bastila slowly let Revan enter her mind, nurturing their bond and letting him know what had happened. She could also see what had happened in his mind as well. The brutality of the Sith, the hopelessness of fighting alone against them. The camaraderie and brotherhood he shared with Malak and how everything seemed to fall apart at once. She cursed herself for her part in it, how she was afraid to face him, thinking she could not chose between the Jedi or him. It would always be him. She proved that when she joined Malak and the Sith.

Ian looked between the two, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment. Lowering his hand to his wound he bit his tongue to keep from crying out. A gentle hand held his arm and lifted him with strength he didn't think it had.

"Lets leave them in peace. They have a lot to talk about."

Atris whispered. Ian nodded, allowing Atris to support him as they made they way into another abandoned room of the ancient structure.

"I'm sorry."

Ian said softly to Atris. The former Librarian's head snapped up with a pained and worried expression.

"You were right-"

"I had no right to speak as I did. I was testing Revan. Apparently he has been slipping in his old age and I thought I would see if I could get a reaction out of him."

Atris' lip twitched slightly as she looked down at the cut on Ian's thigh.

"It would seem you did."

Ian choked on a pained laugh.

"Oh... yes..."

The Exile seated himself heavily on a fallen column as Atris quickly tore a piece of her cloak and tied it around the wound. It wouldn't start bleeding if he was careful how much weight he put on it and with the Force's help and some Kolto it would heal within a week. Seeing Atris now, Ian would not have believed she was the same person he had seen in that tomb on Telos, for that was all the abandoned enclave seemed to be. Perhaps Kreia had been right. Perhaps Revan had truly never fallen to the Darkside, only used it as a tool to fight a greater threat. The Exile could scarcely believe there was a being in the galaxy more dangerous than Revan if he truly fell to the Darkside, but his travels throughout the wild space and beyond the Rim had shown him that the horrors the Mandalorians released on the galaxy had only been the beginning.

"The Sith are moving."

Nomi Sunrider looked up with a raised brow.

"What are-"

It struck her like a blaster bolt. It was like Katarr. Pain blinded her as she cried out and dropped to her knees, clutching her head. Carth Onasi laid a hand on the Jedi Master's shoulder, not knowing what to do. Not for the first time he wondered if his son was still out there somewhere, or if he had been killed on Corellia when the Jedi Master Vrook had launched an attack on Revan's rebel Sith. It seemed like they were going to be down to throwing rocks at the Sith if things kept going wrong.

After several minutes, the pain in the Jedi Master's head subsided and she rose shakily, brushing a lock of auburn hair aside.

"Pre- Prepare the fleet. The Sith have begun their war."

Roon was a planet that lay behind what was ironically named the Cloak of the Sith Nebulosity. Isolated by a series of asteroids and small planetoids and moonlets, the planet was host to beautiful, tide-locked oceans and emerald continents. While the planet was sparsely populated, Revan had the foresight to send Malak to the world to gather support to fight the Sith. Sadly no one heeded the former Lord of the Sith's warnings and the planets inhabitants were crushed under the might of the Sith's war beasts and their blades.

Room also fell to the Sith a month before the actual invasion of the Republic began. Around the time Revan was recovered from the Ravager. The first of the Republic worlds to fall prey to the Sith was the watery world of Kamino. The planet's inhabitants were spared when they retreated deep under the oceans. The Sith did not bother following them, ignoring them and moving on to Rishi. As with Roon, the Sith killed all of the Republic colonists gathered on the world in various, brutal fashions. No mercy was shown to the civilians, a mandate the Sith excused by their treatment at the hands of the Jedi and Republic a millennium before.

The Sith executed millions within hours, capturing the entire Abrion sector within a day and laying siege to Ukio. By the second day, Ukio was in ruins and its inhabitants begging the Sith for mercy. Within two days the Sith had reached the Mid-Rim and were pressing onward. The Republic, stunned by the appearance of what they had believed to be a long-dead foe scrambled to meet the threat. Their capitol ships proved useless against the Sith's massed fleets. It was almost the same as it had been when Revan had returned and invaded the Republic with his own Sith Empire except for one minor difference. These Sith were bent only on destruction. Destroying anything that had to do with the Republic or the Jedi and this time, the Republic did not have the Jedi to turn to for help.

Carth Onasi's fleet broke apart before they could even fire a shot. The various worlds represented within the fleet recalling their vessels and soldiers to defend their homes.

The horrors the Sith would unleash on dozens of worlds would go untold as all that witnessed that cared to document it died. The Sith armies moved on, leaving their war beasts behind to unleash a new kind of horror on the survivors of their raids. The beasts would run lose on the worlds, killing anything they crossed and devouring them whole. Within a week, the Republic collapsed and anarchy reigned. The Alderaanians, the Corellians, the Mon Calamari, the Chandrillans, all of the planets moved to their own world's defenses.

Coruscant became nothing more than a galactic hub, the Senate dissolved and the Republic disbanded. Without the Jedi and with the Republic fleet broken apart, only two things stood in the way of the Sith advance. Onderon and the Mandalorians of her moon Dxun.

Three things stood in the way of the Sith if one were to read between the lines of the history texts. An old hero and villain would resurface after half a decade and challenge the Sith's champion, the Patron. This would not happen for a very long time. The Jedi would resurface as well, but there was little the decimated Order could do against the sheer numbers the Sith threw at them. The Jedi in this dark war would become nothing more than elite soldiers. Warlords dispatched throughout the Republic to defend worlds from the Sith's threat. A Darkness fell across the galaxy and brought on a dark age like nothing the Republic or the Jedi had ever seen before. It seemed the only hope for the Republic lay in two of its former oppressors and an a world that wanted to have nothing to do with it.

One would almost say it was poetic.

Notes: Bastila was not married. From a certain point of view she renewed her oath to the jedi and was in a way married to the Jedi Order. Wink Wink. I'm trying to keep this part as close to SW EU Cannon as I can but its going to be tough. We know the Sith rule the galaxy for a while and the jedi are reorganized into a military organization to fight the Brotherhood of Darkness around 2000 years before the battle of Yavin. The Jedi Army of Light. The Brotherhood was founded by Darth Ruin at this time but, BUT the Sith were gone for a while before this. It's the period of 2000-1000 years before the battle of Yavin in which the Sith rule the galaxy. (Remember Palpatine's quote in Revenge. "Once more the Sith will rule the Galaxy.") Don't give up hope that this story won't end happily, but it will be a bloody hard fight to that ending, I'll tell you that.

Also if you're wanting Revan/Bastila Interaction. Wait for it, I'll do my best. And if you're wondering about why I had Revan and Ian fight. Come on people! Everyone who's played wants to see those two fight it out!


	5. Chapter 4: A War of Shadows

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: A War of Shadows

Historians look back on the dark period that followed the Jedi Civil War and the Mandalorian War as the War of Shadows. It is rightly named since much of the actual fighting was done far from the eyes of the Republic. The Republic, which had stood for thousands of years crumbled so quickly that none could have stopped its descent. The True Sith brought with them terrible weapons and creatures that annihilated whole star systems.

With the light the Jedi Order brought to the galaxy diminished, it seemed evil grew in every aspect of life. On the crowded streets of the great cities of the fallen Republic crime grew. Anarchy became the set government and the sentients of the Core worlds took to space, trying to flee from the hold of the Sith and their vengeance.

It was the darkest period the galaxy would know. Reviving an ancient technology, the Sith destroyed entire stars and burned more worlds than Revan and Malak's Sith and the Mandalorians ever had.

The people of the Republic longed for a time when the Mandalorians and the Sith of Revan's Order threatened their borders. The True Sith knew nothing of mercy. Nothing of conquest or slavery. They knew only hate. Billions of lives were extinguished in mere moments as the Sith moved ever closer to the heavily populated worlds of the Core.

Then, by some miracle, the advance halted. The Sith withdrew. They withdrew faster than they had attacked and within a matter of a few days it was as if they had never been.

Miracles are rarely what they appear. The Sith home world fell under attack and the Lord of the Sith recalled all of their Forces to hold off the invaders. Normally the Sith would ignore such an act and deal with it after their final victory over the galaxy, but this time it was different. The Jedi it seemed had returned. Or in this case, two former Jedi.

"How long can they keep this up?"

Admiral Carth Onasi asked as he turned to the Jedi Master accompanying his strike force. The Master's face was set with grim determination as she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

"Not much longer. Battle Meditation can only do so much and-"

The Jedi Master cut herself off. She wouldn't bother thinking about Revan at the moment. There were just too many unresolved issues. Carth rose a brow as the Jedi cut herself off.

"What about Revan and Kenobi?"

The Jedi Master's blue eyes hardened as they locked with his.

"Kenobi and Revan have decided to fight a two-man war against the Sith. I think its safe to say they are completely mad and completely suicidal."

Carth chose to say nothing. Obviously Bastila had some issues she and Revan needed to work out before they were on speaking terms again. Revan had not taken the news of their lie all too well and with the Sith invasion had a convenient excuse to ignore the problem. It seemed the idea of Bastila waiting for him was enough. Bastila had set aside her commitment to the Jedi Council to follow him and had been turned away by she needs of the crumbling Republic.

"Servants of the Republic as always."

Carth heard Bastila mutter to herself as she scowled and left the bridge of the Sojourn. The Republic Admiral sighed, shaking his head.

"Kids."

Revan rubbed his aching shoulders wearily as he seated himself on a fallen log.

"How close do you think we are?"

His companion asked. Revan shrugged, casting a wary glance at his surroundings. The forests of Ziost seemed to change each time he set foot in them and they had ventured far from their ships.

"I don't know. Canderous' assault team sent us word before we landed that they were going to be delayed. We don't know when the Onderonian fleet or the Mandalorians are going to get here and we can barely sense anything..."

Ian nodded, his eyes studying his old friend silently before he turned away and looked skyward.

"You and Malak were here for four years and you still can't find your way around here?"

The former General asked with a smirk. Revan rolled his eyes wearily.

"Malak was the navigator."

Revan smiled as he remembered how his friend always managed to get to the ship first.

"Are you certain the Patron is on-world?"

Revan closed his eyes a moment before nodding.   
"I can still sense him here. His is not a presence one forgets."

Both of the men fell into a silence as they listened to their surroundings. In the distance a beast moved through the forests, breaking branches and howling mindlessly.

"Do you think they will recall their forces?"

Revan asked, his uncertainty finally working its way to the surface. Ian nodded.

"We're attacking their point of power. They need to make a statement that they are more powerful than we and destroy us. That is why they went for the Core worlds."

Revan took in a deep breath and let it out in a heavy huff as he started and leapt to his feet.

"Canderous is here."

Ian reached out with his senses and felt the arrival of Mandalore.

"Why didn't we bring the Republic... well what's left of the Republic forces and the Jedi with us?"

Ian asked as he followed his friend towards the general direction of Ziost's capitol. Revan continued onward, his lightsaber in hand as he replied.

"They've suffered enough by my hand."

Ian rose a brow, wondering if Revan meant the Jedi, the Republic or a certain blue-eyed Jedi Master. Sensing where his friend's train of thoughts was taking their conversation, Revan decided to strike first.

"How are things with Atris? I've barely seen her since we left Rhen Var."

Ian, who had been taking a drink of water from his flask choked and spit the water out, glaring at Revan.

"Atris is trying to recover from being immersed in the Dark Side. Something you have not done."

Revan smirked.

"I got my memory erased and then given back. I think I've had enough Jedi in my mind for one lifetime."

Both men fell into a long silence as they worked their way through the twisted trees and rocky paths of the forest. Revan reached out, sensing Canderous and the Onderonians high above the mountainous world.

"If all goes according to plan they will start bombing the mountains overlooking the capitol in an hour."

Ian rose a brow.

"Aren't we going to the capitol?"

Revan smirked.

"You're insane! We'll drown when they melt the ice or be crushed when the rock and mudslides begin. Force, Revan you're mad."

Shaking his head, Revan checked his surroundings once more before turning to his friend.

"We're being tracked. Be on guard."

Casting a paranoid look over his shoulder, Ian nodded, silencing his rant and feeling the presence of the Sith warriors that had been tracking them since they had landed.

"Queen Talia and Mandalore's alliance should buy us the time we need."

Carth shook his head.

"We should pursue them. Wipe them out. If we don't get them now they'll be back in a hundred years and do the same thing."

The representative of the Core Alliance, what passed for the Republic in those dark days shook his head.

"I know you're right but... You saw what the Sith could do over-"

The representative cut himself off, shaking his head.   
"Now is the time to rebuild our strength. Unite what can be salvaged of the Republic."

Carth scowled.   
"I know that, but we need to help the Onderonians and the Mandalorians. You know they can't fight entire Sith Empire off. We couldn't even slow their advance."

The representative rose a brow.

"You are aware that the Mandalorians did the same thing the Sith are and that the Onderonians have had ties to Darth Revan and Malak's Sith Empire?"

Carth sighed, knowing he was going to get nowhere.

"I do."

The representative nodded.

"Then you also know that Revan is on the Sith home world doing who knows what. We can't allow Darth Revan to return. If he is in control of these Sith-"

"He is NOT in control of these Sith."

Bastila Shan's voice cut through the debate. The representative turned and rose a brow.

"I seem to recall a certain traitor who was exonerated by the Jedi. Who no longer have ties to the Alliance."

An outraged expression crossed Bastila's features for a split-second before a calm Jedi mask fell into place.

"I seem to recall a young woman being used as a sacrificial shield against the Sith and then being tortured to the point of madness."

Bastila returned her eyes calm and calculating. Shivering slightly as the Force gathered heavily within the room the representative left without a word while Bastila ignored her gathering anger and turned to Carth.

"We need to help the Onderonians. Telos should bring this before the Core Alliance's council. I will speak with Master Sunrider and the Council. I think it is time the Jedi came out of hiding."

Carth couldn't agree more.

"Lord Mandalore."

Queen Talia nodded to Canderous as she looked out of the bridge of her ship. Canderous gave a respectful bow. Ever since the incident with the Exile on Dxun, the Onderonians had given the Mandalorians permission.

_"As if we needed it."_

Canderous scoffed mentally. To train on Onderon's moon. In the months following the Exile's confrontation with Darth Traya, Canderous was able to gather hundreds of other Mandalorians from all around the galaxy. While they were significantly diminished by the previous wars, Canderous still held hope that his people would return to their former glory.

"Has Lord Revan contacted you?"

The Onderonian Queen asked. Canderous wordlessly shook his head, his gaze traveling to the Sith's home world of Ziost that loomed in the distance.

_"So this is where Revan chose to fight all those years..."_

Even without the Force, Canderous could feel a chill and a small flicker of fear within him as he stared at the world. The warrior in him knew that many of his people would die here. Remembering when the Sith had challenged the Mandalorians to invade the Republic brought a cold rage to the Mandalorian warrior. He did not enjoy being manipulated and he would be certain to bathe in the blood of the Sith he killed on this world. The Mandalorian wars had brought glory to the Mandalorians that would never be forgotten, but it also destroyed them.

_"I've seen the Sith's tactics. I've seen their warriors and their ships. They would've been crushed by us. The only reason the Republic is having such trouble with them is because they lack effective warriors and cohesion."_

The Mandalorian leader smiled at the irony.

_"Exactly what they were lacking in the last wars."_

Knowing Revan was on that world filled Canderous with pride in his own people. Even if they were defeated, the Mandalorians would go down in a fight. Just as they had on Malachor V. In the end, Canderous knew his people were doomed to diminish but they could still break the hand of the ones who pulled their strings. The Mandalorians were no one's puppets.

"I will begin landing my warriors in the capitol. Anyone that deserves to live will be out of there by the time you begin the bombardment. You just make sure you can keep the Sith fleet at bay. I'm certain the Jedi and Bastila will show up at some point."

the Onderonian Queen nodded.

"I hope you are right, Mandalore."

Canderous silently agreed.

_"Hell maybe even Republic boy will make a warrior out of himself a show up."_

Excited over the coming battle, Canderous made his way to the ship's hangar. A Basilisk war droid and several Mandalorian fighters as well as a transport ship, loaded with landing pods awaited him as well as three hundred Mandalorian warriors. Beyond the forcefield of the hangar he could see the salvaged Mandalorian battle cruiser he had taken from the wrecks of Malachor glide gracefully past the Onderonian fleet and to the front as its turrets and cannons began targeting the incoming Sith fighters from Ziost's surface.

_"They don't even have a planetary defense grid."_

Smirking beneath his helm, Mandalore raised his vibrosword in the air and gave a war cry as the Mandalorians rushed to their ships and began lifting away from the Onderonian Capitol ship.


	6. Chapter 5: Lords of the Sith

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 5: Lords of the Sith

"Ian."

The Jedi Exile rose a brow, looking over his shoulder at Revan.

"Yes?"

Revan's eyes rose to the sky as orange streaks began to appear high above the Sith capitol. He had seen it before and knew that Canderous' men were beginning their assault. Bringing his eyes back to his old friend, Revan held out his hand.

"Sorry for trying to kill you on Rhen Var."

Kenobi rose a brow and shook his head.

"I did a foolish thing. I forgot who you were."

Taking his hand, Kenobi shook once and nodded towards the large palace rising within the center of the Sith city.

"Are you ready for this?"

The Exile asked. Revan felt a growing dread. He knew something had to go wrong. It was too easy.

"One way or the other, this is the end of this. The end of all things..."

Kenobi rose a brow. He had heard that before. It took him a moment to recall just where.

"Kreia..."

Revan nodded.

"She always gave me her little speeches about destiny and where my road would take me. I always through she'd be here."

Shaking his head, Kenobi heard Revan add something about Malak under his breath before the former Dark Lord of the Sith took off in a Force-enhanced sprint, leaping over a wall and atop a rooftop. Kenobi quickly made his way around the wall to another section. With two of them moving into the city from separate sides they had twice the chance of success.

The first thing Revan came across within the walls of the Sith city was not what he had expected. A battalion of Sith, a Sith Knight perhaps, not what he did stumble upon. women and children.

The Sith watched him through wide eyes and he could feel the fear rolling off them as they broke away from his path. Trying not to look into their faces, Revan continued onward to the palace looming in the distance. On the edge of his senses he could feel Bastila nearing and breathed a sigh as he effortlessly sidestepped a young Sith and drove his saber into the red-skinned sentient's chest. A child cried out but was ignored as the former Dark Lord of the Sith continued onward. He could already sense that they were no threat to him.

Casting his eyes skyward, Revan frowned.

_"I think this plan is going to need some revising..."_

Activating his wrist comm, Revan waited until Canderous' gruff voice answered.

"What is it?"

Mandalore asked in an annoyed tone.

"We've got a problem. Women and children down here. We're going to have to be careful who we shoot at."

A long silence followed as Canderous pondered his next words.

"They wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

Canderous replied finally. Revan nodded absently.

"I know but if we're going to survive. If the Mandalorians are going to gain any honor from this war... we're going to have to keep it clean. Be professional, Canderous. That is all I can ask of you."

Canderous was about to reply when the sound of a lightsaber and shouting cut through the other end of the communicator. Cursing, Mandalore ordered his men to load in their pods and prepare for the battle. He would honor Revan's request. They would be what they were born to be, soldiers.

Canderous chuckled to himself as he recalled the argument he had with Carth Onasi years before over the difference between a warrior and a soldier. Maybe there was more to it than just killing and glory.

The Sojourn dropped out of hyperspace into the midst of total chaos. Admiral Onasi cursed as he shouted for his helmsman to break away. The Sith fleet and the Onderonian fleet were locked in a massive battle over Ziost. The Sojourn shook violently as a Sith turret found their stabilizers. Pulling himself from where he had fallen to the deck, Carth shouted for the Republic ships to join in the battle. Turning his eyes to the scene before him, Carth rose a brow as he spotted a Mandalorian heavy cruiser cutting its way through a section of the Sith fleet with smaller Onderonian vessels following in its wake.

The Mandalorian battlecruiser tore through the Sith fleet, unaffected by the fire it received from all sides. Its heavy armor buckled under the stress and its shields burned but it continued onward, paving the way for the Onderonians as they attempted to break through the much larger fleet that surrounded them.

"We're outnumbered..."

Queen Talia muttered to herself as she paced her flagship.   
"We have no choice, begin the bombardment. Send word to Lord Mandalore. He needs to pull back and defend the capitol ships from boarders."

The aides quickly filled their Queen's command, trying to ignore the sudden hopelessness that filled them. Just as it seemed they were going to be consumed from all sides, the Mandalorian battlecruiser broke away from the group and began cutting its way mercilessly through the Sith lines. A flash in the distance followed by dozens of others heralded the arrival of the Republic forces. Almost without explanation, the Queen and her soldiers suddenly felt hope rising in them. They had come here expecting to die. Now, they had a chance.

"She wants us to what?"

Canderous bellowed, his face twisting into a furious sneer.

"The Sith fleet is having difficulty breaking through their shields, but they say that several of their ships have already been boarded. What is your order, Mandalore."

Canderous lowered his head, trying to ignore all the anger and emotions burning in him. He needed to think clearly, like a soldier. What would Revan tell him to do. The answer was simple.

"Break orbit, recall all of our men and split up amongst the fleet. Its time to crack some Sith skulls."

The Mandalorian saluted his leader and quickly passed on the command. Canderous sent a message to Revan and Kenobi, hoping that both of the former Jedi would get the withdrawal order.

Ian Kenobi frowned as his comm beeped. Ducking quickly into the forests outside of the walls of the Sith capitol, the Jedi Exile checked his message and frowned. Things weren't going as well as they had planned. The bombardment needed to happen and fast. Sighing heavily, the Exile turned and began sprinting for his ship, hoping the Sith hadn't discovered it yet.

Revan scowled as he tossed aside his damaged comlink. Brushing the dust from his robes, Revan gathered the Force around him and leapt atop the roofs once again. He'd have to be more careful if he was knocked off the wall again by the Sith guards. He could have lost more than just his communicator. Looking skyward, the former Sith Lord nodded to himself as he noticed the bright streaks of the Mandalorian dropships had fallen away. He's have reinforcements soon enough. A surge of adrenaline within him told him that Bastila and the other Jedi had arrived and that she had begun using her Battle Meditation. Smiling to himself, Revan looked ahead towards the Sith palace. It would all be over soon and then he and Bastila could sit down and have a nice, long chat about their relationship.

Their relationship. Revan quickly shook the thought away. He couldn't think about that now, regardless of how much it made him want to turn around and leave just so he could be by her side. He had a duty to fulfill. One that had cost the galaxy trillions of lives and one that had cost him his best friend, his Master and had nearly cost him Bastila. He wouldn't be distracted by this now. Clearing his mind, Revan pulled both of his lightsabers from his belt and activated the crimson and azure blades as he dropped down to the street and began cutting his way through a group of surprised and enraged Sith guards.

Bastila felt Revan fighting at the edge of her senses on the surface of Ziost and unconsciously channeled more of her power than was needed into aiding him.

_"Its not much."_

Bastila mentally assured herself, knowing that her concentration could be divided between the space battle and the land battle. Even if the land battle was being waged by only one man.

Jedi Knight Juhani pulled her fighter into a tight spin as she flew through the debris of an Onderonian cruiser. Concentrating fully on the battle before her, the Cathar Jedi ordered her attack group to fall in place behind her and attack one of the Sith capitol ships as one. The other Jedi and Republic fighters acknowledged the Knight and followed her as they broke off into smaller groups and began tearing away at a Sith cruiser's deflector shields and its engines.

On board the Republic cruiser Marauder, Jolee Bindo frowned deeply. They had intercepted the communications from the Onderonian ships and he knew Canderous was withdrawing from the plan Revan had set out to aid the ships in orbit. It was a wise tactical move since their ships were key to their initial plan, but the Jedi Master could not shake the sense of foreboding building within him. The world that loomed ahead of the Republic fleet as it began exchanging volleys with the Sith fleet was dark. He knew, deep down within him that this would not be an easy battle. Or a clean one. The face of his fallen Padawan flashed briefly in his mind as well as the sadness and bitterness that went along with remembering the young woman, the girl he had left in the care of his friend Revan. Shaking off his dark thoughts, Jolee turned his attention to the battle, trying his best to advise the captain of the Marauder. Things were beyond Revan's control when Fayne was killed. He had to look past it.

"This isn't going to work."

Mira frowned as she checked the readings again.

"Of course it will work."

Atris assured the former bounty hunter. The red-haired woman shrugged, shaking her head.

"Alright, but if the engines explode its your fault."

Atris gave a bemused glance at the bulkheads surrounding her.

"The Ebon Hawk has been through far to much to meet its end here in this place."

Mira sighed, wiping some sweat from her forehead as she watched Bao-Dur try to repair the old ship.

"I'll go get Brianna and Visas. I'm sure Atton wouldn't mind handing Bao his tools?"

Without waiting for a response, Mira dumped the tools in Atton's arms and took over, grumbling something about a long shower. Atris turned to Atton, narrowing her eyes.

"Sure. Why not."

Atton sighed, crouching behind the Iridonian mechanic as he attempted to repair the shattered power coupling.  
"I can't believe the General was able to fly this thing to Rhen Var and back to Citadel."

Atris smiled.

"Don't forget he landed on Korriban as well... An impressive ship."

The two men ignored the Echani Master, both wary of her presence since the incident on Telos. From behind her, Atris tensed as she sensed the approach of what she had begun to call Revan's pet demon.

"Dejected Statement: Master is exterminating a large number of Meatbags and I am not present. This is unacceptable."

Raising a brow, Atris stared at the droid until it turned and left the room.

"Is there a reason that... that _thing_ is still on board?"

Atris asked. Atton shrugged, noticing Bao-Dur was too busy to answer.

"Guess him and the tin can over there just like the place."

T3-M4 beeped a series of whistles and whines, clearly disagreeing with Atton.

"Oh I'm sure he's keeping you here at gunpoint."

Atton shot back. T3's head swivelled as he chirped an affirmative. Choosing to remain silent to that, Atris moved to the quarters of the ship, sensing the lingering presence of Kreia. Frowning deeply, the former Jedi Councillor knelt on the floor and reached out with her senses.

"Blast, they've already started fighting."

Bao-Dur grumbled something while Atton sighed.

"Figures. We're going to have to get there fast if we're going to be any help."

Mira returned with a frown.

"Why wouldn't Ian allow us to go with him in the first place? Its not like any of us are defenseless."

Mira jumped as a deep roar resounded through the Ebon Hawk and paled as a tall Wookiee climbed up the ramp. For a moment she thought it was Harnhaar but then noticed he was slightly lighter than her Wookiee nemesis. And that he was dragging a young Twi'lek behind him.

"Who the hell are you?"

Mira asked warily. HK-47 entered the room and gave a mechanical groan.

"Annoyed Statement: Great, the carpet meatbag and the blue one."

HK's eyes flashed in annoyance.

"Pleading Statement: Master is not here, I have to endure the presence of other meatbags. Please do not add to it."

Mission Vao ignored the droid, staring instead at the others.

"I'm Mission Vao and this is Zalbaar. We were on Citadel trying to find one of our friends and heard what's going on. We want to help."

Not really having an established leader, the Ebon Hawk crew exchanged glances.

"And why would you wish to help?"

Atris asked cooly. Mission smirked.

"You're a Jedi, I can tell already so I'll be frank. I haven't seen Rev or Bast in a long time and I wanted to see them. Next thing I know Rev is off gallivanting around the galaxy while Bastila is stewing over him leaving her. Then she's a Jedi Master and Carth is an Admiral and Canderous is Mandalore and geeze! Com on I just want to say hi to my friends without having to wait for five years!"

Mission managed to get the last part out in a single, rushed breath. Atris rose her brow, nodding.

"I see no problem with them joining us. We could use the assistance."

Mission smiled happily, sprawling herself on a seat while she glanced at Zalbaar.

"Wanna try that pacifism program we've been working on for HK?"

The young Twi'lek asked with a grin. HK quickly left the room, not withing the blue meatbag to interfere with his ingenious programming. Mira laughed at this and walked over to the newcomer.  
"You're not so bad, kid. Name's Mira."

Mission took the offered hand and began explaining her and Zalbaar's experiences on the Ebon Hawk and what it was that had attracted them there.

"This weapon is your bloody life."

Revan muttered to himself as he cast a glance down at his remaining lightsaber. The other had been knocked from his grasp as he rushed through yet another seemingly endless group of Sith guards. Tightening his grip on the crimson bladed weapon, Revan looked around warily. He was in the courtyard of the palace. A clear run to the other side would find him within it and he hoped face to face with the Sith Lord.

Calling the Force around him, Revan broke into a Force-enhanced sprint towards the building. Part of his mind wondered where the Mandalorian dropships and their crews were. Ignoring that doubt in his mind, Revan continued onward, stopping to gather himself as he finally entered the palace itself.

"Mandalore's forces have returned. We've received word from General Kenobi, he's leaving the surface now. Still no word from Revan."

Queen Talia rose a brow, wondering why Revan hadn't made it back to his ship yet.

"Send another transmission to Rev-"

The Queen's ship listed heavily as it was struck from several sides by Sith fire.  
"Blast! Send the transmission. Get Admiral Onasi on the line. We have to do this fast if we're going to do it at all."

The bridge crew quickly worked through their orders, still getting no response from Revan. Fearing the worst for the former Dark Lord of the Sith, Queen Talia ordered her ships to bombard the Sith capitol.

Ian Kenobi landed his fighter on the Onderonian Queen's flagship and leapt from the canopy, landing in the midst of a dozen Sith warriors. Within moments, the Sith were all dead and the Jedi Exile nodded his thanks to the Mandalorians and Onderonian soldiers gathered in the hangars before making his way to the bridge. Still feeling Revan on the world's surface, the Exile frowned.

_"Why is he still down there?"_

Reaching through the Force the Exile sensed that Revan was still unharmed and shook his head.

_"Probably taking his time."_

Reaching the bridge the Exile frowned as he noticed the position of the Queen's ship.

"What-"

The Exile's eyes widened as the Queen's vessel began bombing the world's surface.

"What the blazes are you doing?"

Ian shouted. Queen Talis turned, frowning.

"We had to deviate from the plan, General. We do not have the resources to sustain this orbital battle for long. The Sith have already destroyed a third of my fleet. I cannot allow the rest to fall. We won't have enough ships otherwise to destroy the world."

Ian gaped at the Queen.

"Destroy the- now wait just a minute. Revan is still down there and-"

The Queen sighed, lowering her head.

"Darth Revan is dead, General Kenobi."

Ian lowered his head, closing his eyes and reaching out to Revan. Try as he might, the Exile could not get through to his old friend.

"Give me ten minutes, Queen. I'll take a ship back there and if-"

"Its too late, General."

Carth Onasi furrowed his brow as he watched what remained of the Onderonian fleet slowly position itself around the Sith homeworld.   
"What are they-"

The Telosian Admiral's eyebrows rose as he realized what he was seeing. He had seen it before on Telos and Taris.

"Send word to all ships. Cover the Onderonian fleet. We need to buy them time to wipe out the Sith threat."

Barely making the connection with that he was doing and what Darth Malak had done to both Telos and Taris and a dozen other worlds, Carth continued ordering his ships to cover the exposed Onderonian ships. For a moment it seemed like the Sith were going to attack the Onderonians but Bastila's Battle Meditation caused mass confusion within the Sith ranks and their ships broke formation, panicking as they attacked randomly against their much more organized opponents.

Revan decapitated a Sith guard and used the Force to send another flying into a large set of double-doors, causing them to fly open to reveal the chamber of the Sith Lord. The Patron slowly rose from his throne and walked casually towards his opponent, taking a lightsaber from his belt as well as his sword.

"Leave us."

The Patron ordered the twelve gathered members of the Sith Council. The Twelve Sith remained where they were, watching the newcomer curiously.

"This is the end, Patron. The twelve houses... the Sith will end here. We all know this. Give us this last right."

The Patron bowed his head in acceptance.

"Very well."

Advancing on Revan, the Patron activated his crimson blade and crossed it with the former Jedi's. Following through with a powerful swing of his sword, the Sith Lord was rewarded with a loud clang as it connected with Revan's armor.

Ignoring the shock that coursed through his body at the powerful strike of the Patron's blade, Revan sidestepped the Sith's lightsaber, deflecting the sword as he thrust for the Patron's chest. The Patron backed away, recovering his balance and blocking Revan as the two foes continued their duel through the chamber.

"Surely you must know this is your end."

Revan ignored the Sith, backing away from the Patron's strike and kicking the Sith Lord's chest. Thrown off balance, the Patron barely recovered as he crossed his blades over his head and blocked Revan's downward strike that would have split him in two. Struggling against the saber lock, Revan glared into the Sith's eyes.

"A mistake."

The Patron smiled as he moved to parry Revan's blade and skewer the former Jedi on his other. Revan quickly side-stepped and forced his blade parallel to the ground, knocking apart the Patron's crossed blades. The Patron wore a surprised expression as Revan's lightsaber sliced off his right hand and then followed through quickly, decapitating him. Or nearly decapitating him. Revan flinched as he saw the Patron's lower jaw melt away. It was the same move he had used against Malak, except he had spared Malak's hand when he had done it before.

The Patron dropped to the ground, howling in agony as he grasped his face. Revan swallowed the lump rising in his throat as he moved forward and decapitated the Sith Lord. The other Sith stool by calmly and watched, knowing no matter what they did they were dead, their people were dead. A rumble broke through the long silence that followed the Patron's fall, followed by a series of explosions and more rumbles as blasterfire rained down on the world from above.

Revan rose his eyes, surprise coursing through him.

"You see now, Jedi?"

One of the Sith Councillors spoke, his voice barely above the noise surrounding them. Revan turned his eyes to the Sith, confusion on his features.

"We aren't that different. The Jedi and the Sith."

A section of the ceiling fell through, crushing the Sith and Revan quickly turned and began running through the palace and into the streets of the Sith city. Revan panted heavily as he paused, watching the destruction unfold before him as the city burned and collapsed under the fire of the Onderonian ships. A feeling began to grow within Revan's chest and it took him a moment to realize what it was. It was the same thing he had felt when Taris was destroyed by Malak's fleet. It was the same thing he had felt when he had ordered the destruction of a dozen other worlds as the Sith Lord. It was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were silenced.

The former Jedi Knight dropped to the ground on the courtyard, his eyes following the destruction. His thoughts fell to the women and children he had seen on his way into the city. Casualties of war the Republic would call them. Revan lowered his head and allowed a tear to drop as he felt the destruction around him. The Sith's last words echoed in his mind as he felt himself begin to vomit. Maybe he wasn't that different from the monster he had been and the monsters he believed the True Sith to be. Maybe the Jedi, the Republic were the ones that were wrong...


	7. Epilogue: The End of All Things

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Epilogue: The End of All Things

The Sith fleet, scattered and heavily depleted by the combined efforts of the Mandalorians, the Onderonian Royal fleet and the remnant Republic forces could do very little when their homeworld was burned by their foes. Enraged, the Sith began a series of suicidal attacks that ended ultimately in the virtual extinction of what remained of their race. Several Sith ships tried to escape, but the Interdictor cruisers of the Republic forces kept them from escaping into the safety of hyperspace.

It was just a matter of a few short hours that brought those fleeing Sith vessels under the Republic's guns and finally into nothing but floating debris. In a parody of the close of the Great Hyperspace war, the Republic fleet closed along the side of the Onderonian fleet and began blasting what was left of Ziost into nothing. As it had been a thousand years before, the Republic and Jedi exterminated the Sith like vermin. What few Sith remained on the fallen worlds across the galaxy would die a slow death.

The Sith's death as a race would not go unmarked in history. Fleeing into the Republic that had once been their enemies, the Republic sought the countless fallen Jedi and former Sith that had been created by Darth Revan and Malak and taught them the sum of their knowledge in the Darkside of the Force. The final Sith died shortly before the rise of the fallen Jedi Knight that would adopt the surname, Darth Ruin. That Sith's final act would be to leave a lasting legacy in his teachings that would bring even more suffering to the galaxy that even his race had done thousands of years before. The Sith had a long memory and their hatred would escalate throughout the Force, poisoning it and destroying the fragile balance it kept in the galaxy. Darth Ruin's line of Sith did what Revan refused and Malak failed at. What the True Sith failed at and what even Exar Kun was unable to accomplish. They destroyed, completely the system of government that kept the Republic as a fighting force. The Republic never fully recovered from the Jedi Civil War and over the next three thousand years it collapsed even further, its borders and its reach shrinking to only the inner Core worlds.

In the ashes of the Old Republic rose the Brotherhood of Darkness. Started two thousand years after the Jedi Civil war and a thousand after the death of Darth Ruin, the Brotherhood of Darkness fell under the leadership of the Sith Lord Kaan after the final destruction of the Republic. While the Sith of Darth Ruin's empire turned on each other and ultimately destroyed themselves, Kaan saved what remained of his fellow Sith and led them on a campaign against a Jedi Order that was hardly as powerful as it had been at the time of the Jedi Civil war, let alone the Darth Ruin conflict.

The Light and Darkness wars would rage for only a year and meet its end at the head of the Jedi Army of Light led by the Jedi Master Lord Hoth and the Brotherhood of Darkness under Lord Kaan. Seven brutal assaults on the Sith stronghold of Ruusan would end with the deaths of all of the Jedi and Republic forces and all of the Sith, save one. Using the technique mastered by Darth Nihilus and passed on by the survivors of Ziost's destruction, Lord Kaan used a Thought Bomb and destroyed the Jedi forced along with his own. Only Darth Bane survived the cataclysm that engulfed Ruusan.   
Darth Bane rebuilt the Sith Order in secrecy, adopting a new rule. The rule of two. Only a Master and an Apprentice could hold the title of Sith Lord. After the massive infighting of Darth Ruin's Order, Bane saw that the Sith would not survive in vast numbers as the Jedi could. Over the next thousand years the Sith would work in secrecy. The ancient knowledge of the Sith would be passed on from Master to apprentice as the apprentice would become more powerful or the Master too old.

The Republic, virtually wiped out by the Sith conflict had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Over the next thousand years with the apparent extinction of the Sith, the reorganized Republic would know only peace. A thousand years without war under the guardianship of the rebuilt Jedi Order would follow the Seventh Battle of Ruusan.

The Jedi Order, having been a military organization during the Light and Darkness war disbanded, reforming and rebuilding. Over the three thousand years since Exar Kun's attack on Ossus, the Jedi Order had been nearly unrecognizable from its old form. Rebuilding the Order, the Jedi fell into a period that would be known as the Golden Age of the Jedi. A thousand years of slow growth that would leave the Jedi greatly respected by the newly formed Republic in those early centuries.

The spirits of the ancient Sith, though, cried out for revenge and a thousand years after the supposed disappearance of the Sith, they openly challenged the Jedi on the small world of Naboo. The Naboo conflict would leave the Sith apprentice, Darth Maul dead at the hands of the Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn felled by the Sith's blade. A decade of uncertainty would pass before the Sith again came out in Force. The First Battle of Geonosis would expose the former Jedi Master Dooku as a Sith Lord and begin three years of the bloody and destructive Clone Wars.

It should be noted in the history texts that the Chosen One of the Jedi prophesy and the Sithari of the Ancient Sith's legends were one and the same. The Jedi would train the Chosen One for thirteen years, giving the young man a life beyond what awaited him on his homeworld of Tatooine. In return the Chosen One betrayed the Jedi Code and the Order, falling so far into the Darkside that even his Master had lost hope for him.

The betrayal of the Chosen One, the rise of the Galactic Empire and the Jedi Purge would all culminate at one point. What Supreme Chancellor Palpatine would refer to as an attempt on his life by the Jedi Order. What followed was the revenge the Sith had waited for over five thousand years. The virtual destruction of the Jedi Order. Only a few dozen Jedi would survive the Jedi Purge and rise of the Galactic Empire.

Under the teachings of Darth Sidious, Anakin Skywalker would become Darth Vader. Darth Vader would lead the assault on the Jedi Temple and kill many Jedi there with the aid of the 501st Clone Trooper Legion. None of the Jedi were spared, not even the infants or the children. All would meet their fate at the end of Vader's lightsaber or a Clone's blaster.

The Republic, stagnant and weak after the Clone wars widely accepted the events related to them by Chancellor Palpatine, who would announce himself Emperor in the same speech. Few know the reason Darth Vader chose to betray the Jedi. The secret was lost with the death of himself and of his former Masters. Vader, in the end redeemed himself by slaying Darth Sidious and some would say, fulfilling the prophesy of the Chosen One.

The Sith did not die with the destruction of the Second Death Star, they were merely weakened. Over the years that followed the return of the Jedi Order under the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, many Dark Jedi would rise and challenge the Jedi with the aid of the Imperial Remnants. Some would even go so far as attempt to resurrect the Ancient Sith Lord, Marka Ragnos on Korriban. The actions of the Jedi Master Kyle Katarn and his apprentice, Jadyn Kor would destroy the threat of the Sith, if only temporarily.

An old enemy, forgotten would return, however and rain destruction on hundreds of worlds. The Yuuzhan Vong, weakened by the actions of Revan and the True Sith millennia ago returned to the galaxy from which they had fled and would kill billions upon billions of sentients and bring a darkness to the galaxy that would seem hopeless to battle. Many, many lives were lost before the Vong were defeated. The New Republic would be forced to unite with the remnant Imperial units to even hold off the Vong and in the end, it appeared peace had been reached.

This story is not about the legacy of the Jedi and the Sith's actions on the galaxy, however. It is about the former Jedi Knight Revan.

Revan was saved from certain death on Ziost by retreating deep within a massive labyrinth beneath the city. There, Revan found vast stores of Sith holocrons and even more valuable were the ancient Jedi holocrons stolen three thousand years before by the Dark Jedi that were exiled after the Battle of Corbos. Revan would follow the actions of the Jedi Master Atris and isolate himself in the underground fortress. Here, Revan was tortured by his memories of his actions against the Jedi and the Sith. Here, Revan would lose his sanity and leave behind detailed records of his understanding of the Force and the visions that plagued him in his life and his first death. It took weeks for Revan's friends to find him and when they had, he was hardly recognizable.

Atris would be the one to find Revan and for the rest of her life she would wish she hadn't. Starved from being sealed within the tombs with only the glow of the holocrons to shield him against the darkness, Revan looked to be more of a corpse than a man. What would have been a simple effort of sustaining his body with the Force had become impossible for Revan. The Force was lost to Revan with the destruction of Ziost, some say it was the last act of the Sith to draw his power from him, others that it was simply the will of the Force. His punishment for his actions against the Jedi.

Unlike Ulic Qel-Droma and later the Exile, Revan was helped through his loss of the Force by his friends. Leaving the Sith knowledge buried, the Jedi Master Atris sealed the labyrinth with her lightsaber and returned to the Republic as a Jedi once more, having turned her back on the evils the holocrons could teach.

Slowly, Revan began to regain his strength and with the support of the bond he shared with Bastila and the Exile's knowledge he was able to reestablish his connection with the Force. Revan and Bastila would go on to rebuild the Jedi Order with the aid of their companions and friends. They would also have children after years of what Revan would later refer to as wasted time. In the end, Revan's final words to his wife and his friends were simple. They were also the words heard by the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker when he uncovered the Sith knowledge and Revan's confession.

"You cannot control shadows, you can only become part of them. Wield the light with honor and it will stem off the darkness. The Jedi were right... The Jedi were always right... Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force..."

The holocron of the former Dark Lord of the Sith flickered with an insane smile and Luke cringed as he could sense the lingering madness within Revan that seemed to permeate his once prison.

"The Force will set me free..."

Luke watched as Revan's image was replaced by a woman of similar age with white hair and clad in white robes.

"I am the Jedi Master Atris. I also have a warning to any who would find this place. I lacked the strength of mind and heart to destroy these devices. Some hold the knowledge of the ancient Jedi others... the darkest secrets of the Sith. Look into Revan's eyes. Listen to what he has said and I pray to the Force and all of the gods of he galaxy that you destroy this place. Forgive me, I cannot control my emotions in this dark place..."

The holocron flickered and died and Luke Skywalker looked to his comrade.

"What do you think, Kyle?"

Luke asked the man who had uncovered the cache of knowledge. Having seen the decay of Revan in the light of the holocron over the weeks he had been trapped there, Kyle shuddered and turned to his constant companion on these types of missions.

"Jan..?"

Kyle asked the only Force-blind present. Jan eyed the room with a frown, bending over and lifting an ancient mask from the floor. The paint of the obsidian mask was dulled with the decay of time but the blood-red lines were still visible within the fearsome mask.

"My say..."

Jan Ors tossed aside the mask of Darth Revan and pulled a Thermal Detonator from her belt in answer to Kyle's question. Kyle nodded his agreement and turned to Luke. Luke crossed his arms and frowned, his eyes seeking his wife's. Mara Jade knelt down and lifted the mask Jan had discarded and frowned as she saw what appeared to be a mechanism within it. Touching the device, a faint glow emanated from the mask and the holocron in Luke's hand flickered back to life. A younger and healthier older image of Revan appeared, translucent and shimmering with blue-white light. At his side stood a young woman and behind several Jedi, shrouded in their hooded cloaks. Luke immediately realized what he was seeing and bowed deeply.

"Master Revan."

Luke began, not knowing what title to give the man who's life he had listened to play over the holocron, warning of the remnant Sith, the Vong and the corruption of the Darkside.

"Your friend there just activated our security system. I suggest you run before-"

"Eager Threat: You have violated the Master's sanctuary. I am under agreeable orders to exterminate any meatbags or mechanics that would use this knowledge."

Two crimson eyes flashed in the darkness of the ancient structure as a rust-colored droid appeared, a repeating blaster in his hands.

"Eager Inquiry: Please help yourself to the holocrons."

HK-47 pleaded, his ancient assassin protocols coming back to life for the first time in four thousand years. Luke, Mara, Kyle and Jan were speechless and turned to the apparitions of the ancient Jedi. A tall figure lowered his hood and scowled at Revan.

"You left that thing here? When did you come back to this hell-hole?"

Another figure removed her hood and scowled at Revan.

"Enough with the theatrics, Revan. I am in agreement with Malak on this."

Luke recognized the woman as the Jedi Master Atris and frowned in confusion. Could spirits argue amongst themselves? The young woman beside Revan smiled at the appalled look on Revan's face.

"Destroy my beloved creation? Why would anyone ever want to do that?"

HK beamed at Revan's praise of his ingenious engineering.

"Pointless threat: I am still functional enough to terminate you, meatbag. Your lack of a physical form does not change that."

Malak scowled and raised his hand, sending a wave of Force energy through the ancient structure.

"I have been waiting for this for a very long time."

Beyond anything Luke expected, red-orange lightning shot from Malak's transparent fingertips and engulfed the droid.   
"Palpatine..."

Revan began to Luke, ignoring the blaster bolt that passed through Malak's spiritual form and the laughter of his friend as HK dropped to the ground, never to plague him again with the name, meatbag. Revan and a figure behind him shook their heads at Malak's display.

"Kenobi, restrain him."

The figure behind Revan took hold of Malak and said something quietly to the former Sith Lord. Malak grumbled and crossed his arms turning to Luke.

"Sorry..."

Malak apologized. Luke and his companions looked on in confusion and caution.

"Ben?"

Luke asked, realizing what Revan had said. The figure shook his head.

"No. Obi-Wan was a... descendant of mine. Lets just say our Order was about as liberal as yours is..."

Ian Kenobi left the statement in the air, smiling at Atris. Sighing heavily, Revan turned to the young woman at his side.

"Where is Obi-Wan anyways? We channeled enough energy for him to come along..."

Bastila frowned and shook her head.

"I don't know. I think he and Master Tachi were going to relax at little with the end of the Vong conflict. Force knows they've earned some time together."

Completely lost, Luke and the others watched the spirits ignore them.  
"Okay, since my security system is now gone... as I was saying earlier. Palpatine tried to gain entrance here but thanks to Master Atris' foresight we sealed the structure against the Darkside."

Revan smirked.

"I talked to the maniac for a while and convinced him the knowledge was on Dxun. Lets just say my friend Canderous left some surprises in the jungle for Sidious."

Kyle chuckled to that, knowing well the dangers left behind on Onderon's moon from countless traps the Mandalorians that had used the planet left behind.

"Oh yes, he did not ask me where this place was after that."

Luke frowned.

"If you knew about the Sith, why didn't you warn the Jedi?"

Luke asked cautiously, beyond confused at the chain of events but accepting them as the will of the Force.

"I suppose you would have your father to thank for that. Don't get me wrong, he came through in the end and during much of the Clone wars and he was a good Padawan for a time but the man has done some pretty evil things that I will not speak of. I too have much to regret but I did not shift the blame to others as he..."

Revan shook his head, annoyed by the antics of Anakin Skywalker.

"He has earned his peace, Revan."

Luke warned, channeling his anger into the Force. Revan rose a brow at Luke in challenge.

"One act does not forgive a lifetime of evil. I did not warn the Jedi because I couldn't The Force was unbalanced and we were unable to connect fully to places that did not hold powerful connections to us. Jedi do not grace the ruins of Korriban or this place often... In fact."

Revan rose a hand to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully as he focused on something no one but he could see.

"The Jedi Order needed to be changed."

Bastila Shan said quietly.

"Your relationship with your wife would be considered grounds for expulsion in the former Jedi Order. Like all things in the Force, nothing is small and the galaxy suffered the backlash of the Jedi's fall. The Jedi were arrogant and believed the threat of the Sith to be defeated. It was that arrogance and Revan would argue your father's actions that led to their fall. Just as Revan's actions led to the fall of the Jedi Order I upheld."

Bastila directed the last part of her statement to Revan, warning him to keep silent of his dislike of Anakin Skywalker. Revan sighed, shaking his head. They would have to have another long lecture with Anakin when they returned to the Force. Until then, he needed to control his anger. It was difficult to see a man kill children mercilessly in the name of love and then lead to the death of the one he loved and forgive it but it was not his place, as Bastila reminded him to be judge over that.  
"Passion can lead to possession which is dangerous. Love should not be selfish."

Revan let one last shot to Anakin out before shaking his head.

"Destroy this place. There is little here that you cannot learn from the ruins of Ossus. We took the Jedi knowledge years ago and stored them away on Rakata Prime. Your wife has my mask and within it is the coordinates of that world. Be mindful of the Darkside and know that the future is not written in stone."

Revan warned, hoping that the visions did not plague the son as they had the father. Luke, seeing past his anger at Revan at the obvious affront to his father's memory bowed his head once in acceptance to the wisdom of his words.

"We will destroy this place and I will search Rakata for this knowledge. May the Force be with you, Masters."

Luke bowed and Kyle and Mara reluctantly followed his lead, bowing as well to the gathered spirits of the ancient Jedi. Smiling, Luke turned to the holocrons as the spirits vanished.

"There is a lot of knowledge here that can be of great value despite what they said..."

Mara added thoughtfully. Luke looked down at the Sith holocrons and thought over his wife's warning for a long time. The words of Revan rang in his mind as he echoed them to his companions and they destroyed the Sith knowledge once and for all.

"No, You cannot control the shadows. It only consumes you into its darkness."

The End...

Note: Now that was fun to write! Hope you all enjoyed the end of my Casualty of War series. See? I did tell you there'd be a happy ending (Except for HK fans.) Thank you all for reading and I hope you all will go on to read my new series, Knights of the Old Republic: The Path fo the Jedi!

SLDR


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